1. Field
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus supporting peer to peer (P2P) connection, and more particularly, to a method of performing an image forming operation requested by a wireless device P2P connected to an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, peer to peer (P2P) communication technology, by which wireless devices may be directly connected to each other without an additional wireless connecting apparatus, have become generalized and widely used. For example, Bluetooth technology makes the P2P communication possible. Although there are limitations in terms of transmission speed and transmission range of Bluetooth, new versions of Bluetooth are being developed to compensate for the limitations.
In addition, Wi-Fi, which is a wireless local area network (WLAN) standard based on IEEE 802.11 regulated by the Wi-Fi alliance, is basically a technology using ultra-high speed Internet by accessing access points (APs) connected to an infrastructured network. The Wi-Fi may serve the P2P communication by using an ad-hoc function. An ad hoc network typically refers to any set of networks where all devices have equal status on a network and are free to associate with any other ad hoc network devices in link range. Very often, ad hoc network refers to a mode of operation of IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. However, when the ad-hoc function is used, security is weakened, a transmission speed is lowered, a setting method is not easily performed, and transmission range is limited to a maximum of 20 meters. Therefore, the Wi-Fi alliance has suggested a Wi-Fi Direct technology that makes the P2P communication possible. The Wi-Fi Direct allows P2P connection between wireless devices without using the AP, supports a transmission speed of a maximum of 250 Mbps, and performs security settings by using Wi-Fi protected access 2 (WPA2), in order to address problems of the ad-hoc function. In addition, the Wi-Fi Direct supports a transmission range of a maximum of 200 meters, and thus, is considered as a substitute for the P2P communication.
As described above, with the appearance of the Wi-Fi Direct, it is considered that utilization of the P2P communication is increased more. In addition, the P2P communication technology may be also applied to image forming apparatuses such as printers, scanners, facsimiles, and multi-function printers. Therefore, technologies for safely and conveniently using image forming apparatuses supporting the P2P connection are necessary.